The State v Robert Kawin (2001) N2167

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Citation: (2001) N2167
• Date: 24 December 2001
• Court: National Court
• Year: 2001

Full Title: The State v Robert Kawin (2001) N2167

National Court: Kandakasi J

Judgment Delivered: 24 December 2001

1 CRIMINAL LAW AND PRACTICE—Sentencing—Stealing—No sentencing guidelines—Maximum to be reserved for worse type of case and a term of few months imprisonment may be appropriate for less serious offences—Stealing in breach of trust and in circumstances which disclose the commission of another unlawful conduct may amount to a worse case of stealing—The sentence should reflect guilty pleas and first time offenders.

2 CRIMINAL LAW—Sentence—Stealing—Forging signature of work mate who had entrusted his transactions account with the offender—Two counts of stealing by same means in same setting—Total of K2,250.00 was stolen and only K500.00 recovered—Offence falling into the worse category of its type—Maximum sentence of 3 years called for but reduced to 2 years on account of guilty plea and offender being a first time offender—Criminal Code s372 and s19.

3 The State v Bill Baru (1997) N1546, Gimble v The State [1988–89] PNGLR 271, Allan Peter Utieng v The State (2000) SCR15 of 2000 (Unreported and unnumbered judgment of the Supreme Court delivered in Wewak on 23 November 2000) The State v Abel Airi (2000) N2007, The State v Sabarina Yakal [1988–89] PNGLR 129 and The State v James Gurave Guba (2000) N2020 referred to

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Kandakasi J: On 21 December, you pleaded guilty to two counts of stealing from Philip Nabal a sum of K50.00 on the first occasion and K2,200.00 on the second occasion. What you did was contrary to s372(1) of the Criminal Code. After having heard you and your lawyer as well as the State on the kind of penalty you should receive, I reserved a ruling to today. This is my ruling on that.

The Facts

The facts giving rise your guilty plea is straightforward. Vanimo Forest Products ("VFP") employed Philip Nabal and you. You were therefore work mates. In July this year, VFP decided to retrench you and your work mate, Mr Philip Nabal. On the day you were retrenched, VFP did not pay you your respective retrenchment pay out. That was to be done sometime later. Both of you therefore had to wait for your finish pay.

Meanwhile Philip Nabal had to visit a sick son in Aitape. Before leaving for Aitape, he left his PNGBC transaction account book with you on 25 July 2001. That was to enable you to put his finish pay from VFP into his account.

While Philip Nabal was away in Aitape you wrote out a withdrawal slip, forged his signature and took out a sum of K50.00. That took place at the PNGBC here in Vanimo on 14 August 2001. Following your success with the first attempt, you followed the same procedure to take out a further and larger amount on 31 August 2001. The amount you stole on that occasion was K2,200.00.

Eventually...